IIPL: Rajasthan Beat Mumbai By Three Wickets

Jaipur:-Krishnappa Gowtham produced a blinder of a knock after Sanju Samson and Ben Stokes smartly negotiated a slow track as Rajasthan Royals pulled off a nail-biting three-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match, in Jaipur on Sunday. The pitch was not conducive for stroke-making but Samson (52) and Stokes (40 off 27) added 72 runs for the third wicket to push their side close to the finish line and the hosts eventually crossed it with two balls to spare. Gowtham conjured up an unbeaten 11-ball 33-run knock under pressure, hitting two sixes and four fours to seal a thrilling win for his side. It was not a big target on board as the hosts chased 168 but the wicket had slowed down considerably and required a lot of patience to score runs.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat against Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday. While the visitor’s line up remained unchanged, hosts Rajasthan brought in Dhawal Kulkarni and Jofra Archer for Stuart Binny and Ben Laughlin. MI lost Evin Lewis in the first over but Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan produced a 129-run partnership to put their team on course for a big score. However, Rajasthan had other plans as they claimed 6 wickets in last 5 overs to restrict their opposition to 167/7 in 20 overs.

Having finally found the winning touch, Mumbai Indians will look to continue in a similar vein when they lock horns with beleaguered hosts Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League game on Sunday. Two-time champions Mumbai Indians were off to a horrible start this season, suffering three successive reverses before skipper Rohit Sharma came to the team’s rescue with a blazing 94 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The 46-run drubbing of RCB has raised the morale of the players, and Mumbai Indians are seeking a similar outing against Rajasthan Royals, at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium tomorrow. Sharma was the reason behind the team breaking the run of losses and he is again going to be a key man for Mumbai Indians. West Indian Evin Lewis played his part with the bat, scoring 65, and then there are the likes of Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers – Hardik and Krunal.

That Pollard has recovered from an injury is definitely good news for MI. Another positive development is Hardik’s 5-ball 17 the other night. MI’s bowlers too are feeling confident after they were able to withstand the firepower of the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Led by India seamer Jasprit Bumrah, the Mumbai Indians bowling attack looks good with M J McClenaghan, Hardik, Mustafizur Rahman, M Markande and Krunal. The visitors are currently placed sixth with two points, having lost three of their four matches, but the situation is not new for the visitors as they have effected dramatic turnarounds in the past. The hosts, on the other hand, were demoralised by Shane Watson’s belligerent century last night and they have very little time to recover from the massive defeat against Chennai Super Kings.

Captain Ajinkya Rahane will need to lead by example and inspire confidence in his players, besides making optimum utilisation of his meagre resources. Sanju Samson lit up the campaign with his 94 in one of the games, but the rest need to deliver. In bowling, seamer Jaidev Unadkat has been ordinary so far.